Totaled

brian blum’s deeply researched account is like playing a car-wreck video in slow motion: you can watch every stroke of bad luck, bad timing, and bad blood reduce a once-thrilling idea to dust. — David Pogue, Yahoo Finance, former New York Times tech columnist

brian blum’s got the wheel, and you get to ride shotgun. and you’d better hang on: this fast-paced, action-packed journey presents a side of the startup world that few ever get to see—much less survive. blum’s breezy style, muscular prose and impeccable research are a rare combination for any business book, but his eye for detail, character development and story are nothing short of genre bending. — Gina Smith, author of iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon and former ABC News tech correspondent

totaled tells an amazing true story that reads like fiction. shai agassi is an endlessly fascinating, larger-than-life figure, and brian blum's totaled ferrets out every colorful detail. in the process, the book gives us vivid living history from the early days of today's electric vehicle revolution. — Jim Motavalli, author of High Voltage and Forward Drive, columnist for Car Talk at NPR and longtime contributor to The New York Times

brian blum’s totaled is a treasury of lessons for entrepreneurs, managers, and board members alike. required reading for ambitious innovators everywhere. — Dr. Ron Adner, author of The Wide Lens: What Successful Innovators See that Others Miss

the mystery of what really crashed electric car startup better place is finally unraveled. it’s an account as fascinating as those that unfolded simultaneously at fisker, tesla and even gm. no one said getting into the 21^st century would be a no-brainer—and with stories like this one, it’s easy to see why it’s already been such an epic ride. — Chris Paine, director of Who Killed the Electric Car and Revenge of the Electric Car

eloquent, sharp, insightful and entertaining, brian blum's autopsy of a lavishly financed venture's collapse is a must-read for inventors, investors, economists and anyone curious about the israeli start-up scene’s culture of adventure, inspiration and risk. — Amotz Asa-El, commentator, Dow Jones MarketWatch

there are deep lessons to be learned from this consummate insider who writes more like an author of detective thrillers than business books. — Jon Medved, venture capitalist and CEO, OurCrowd

brian blum tells a story of unfettered ambition, unchecked hubris, bad luck and worse timing with the skill and dexterity of a professional driver on a rainy course. totaled takes us on the wild ride that is the spectacular rise and fall of the most audacious startup of the last d...

Business and technology journalist Brian Blum (www.brianblum.com) has covered all sides of the high-tech revolution. His articles about companies --- and the people, behavior and sometimes astonishing events that are behind them --- have appeared in The Jerusalem Post, Haaretz andIsrael21c. He is a senior analyst for the Advanced Interactive Media Group and its "Classified Intelligence Report."

Blum's own Internet publishingstartup Neta4raised $3.2 million, in 1998. He served as entrepreneur-in-residence forJerusalem Global Ventures and wasa vice president of marketing for telecommunications provider Comverse.

Blum has spoken at conferences and universities worldwide and was international president of the IICS multimedia professional association. He holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Oberlin College and a master's in Instructional Technology from San Jose State University. Hisfirst book, Interactive Media: Essentials for Success,was published by Ziff-Davis Press.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Blum lives in Jerusalem with his wife and three children.

Cast of Characters

Introduction

Chapter 1—The Early Days

Chapter 2—A Modern-Day Moon Shot

Chapter 3—Building a Better Place

Chapter 4—Hiring the Team

Chapter 5—Nuts, Bolts and Robots

Chapter 6—Tailpipes Not Invited

Chapter 7—Electric Land Grab

Chapter 8—Shai Agassi, Superstar

Chapter 9—“All You Need is a Plug, Right?” 

Chapter 10—Two Scoops of Rocky Renault

Chapter 11—A Startup in Pinstripes

Chapter 12—Plugged in at the Great Wall

Chapter 13—U-Turn

Chapter 14—Bait and Switch

Chapter 15—How to Lose Money Without Really Trying

Chapter 16—“Who Trusts Shai?”

Chapter 17—“Not for Everyone” 

Chapter 18—The End of the Road

Chapter 19—Saving Private Better Place

Afterword

acknowledgments

endnotes

about the author